


Love Abides

by Freespirit



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Paul sings, See notes for Trigger Warning, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freespirit/pseuds/Freespirit
Summary: It's not the quantity of time you spend with someone. It's the quality.
Relationships: Christopher Pike/Vina, Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets, Katrina Cornwell/Original Universe Gabriel Lorca, Michael Burnham/Ash Tyler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Love Abides

**Author's Note:**

> Death trigger warnings at the end! I'm serious!

**Disclaimer: **None of them, except for Maddy, are mine. I'm not making any profit of this, except for some feedback. The songs Paul sings in this are David Bowie's Space Oddity and The Cure's Love Song. They are not mine either.  
  
A big fat thank you to somerandomchoice for the beta. :)

“Love abides in the face of everything.” – The Doctor, Doctor Who

The sky was a bright blue, with no cloud in sight, Paul noticed as he laid down on the grass. He wouldn’t have minded a few clouds of the fluffy cotton candy kind, but it was okay. It was a beautiful day, he had good food and was surrounded by people he loved.

Except for Reno. When their boss Katrina had suggested all of them who couldn’t be with their families or didn’t have one, could join her and her husband Gabriel at their Lake Tahoe vacation home for Independence Day weekend, she had been among those opting out.

July 4 was her wife’s birthday. And like she’d done for the past three years, Jett would get a bouquet of Soyusa’s favorite flowers, yellow roses with baby’s breath, and spend the day at her grave. Paul had been worried, had argued that she shouldn’t on her own this day. But Jett had only given him a smile.

“I won’t be alone,” the engineer had told him. “But Soyusa would be. Can’t let that happen. I promised her.”

Then she’d just patted his shoulder and walked out of the office, but not without calling “Still can’t stand you,” over her shoulder.

Also missing were their Sales Manager Chris and his wife, Vina. They had chosen to go home to his family’s small ranch, spending the day on horseback riding through Mojave Desert. And siblings Michael and Spock had gone home to their hometown to spend some time with their parents. Michael’s boyfriend Ash and Una, Spock’s … he didn’t actually know what kind of relationship Spock and Una had. Sometimes they seemed to be close friends, other times they’d fight like dogs over a bone. And then there sometimes seemed to be some kind of attraction between them, but Paul didn’t know if they ever acted on it. It didn’t matter, anyway. Una and Spock complimented each other well enough to form an unbeatable legal team. He himself would never want to face them in court.

Philippa, their head accountant, hadn’t joined them either. Katrina had made sure she got to where she wanted to be, but she wouldn’t tell. Wherever she was, despite all the fights they had over his budget, Paul wished she was having a good day.

Like he himself was.

He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, listening to the happy voices of the people around him, feeling the sun on his well-screened skin and the warm grass in his back.

And suddenly, a few droplets of cold water on his stomach.

He opened his eyes again and found himself face to face with his intern Sylvia.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said with mock innocence, “Did I get you wet?”

“Just a little,” he replied as he slowly rose to a sitting position. “How’s the water?”

“Beautiful. It feels somehow… silky. I should have come here sooner.”

“We all should have. That was a good idea.”

Sylvia ran a hand through the mass of her bright red curls, now darkened and slightly straightened by water. He remembered when Katrina’s offer had come, Sylvia had been the first to say yes. While she still had a mother, they weren’t close at all. Siobhan Tilly had been a career-oriented woman who left her daughter in the care of nannies or boarding schools while she grew up. As far as he knew, they hadn’t talked to each other in over a year.

At first Paul had been annoyed by her constant talking and nervous energy, but soon he had realized what a loveable, smart young woman she was. She had slowly but steadily wormed her way into his heart. Now, she was like a little sister to him, and he surely, absolutely one hundred percent had not locked himself in a janitor’s closet to cry when she asked him to be her emergency contact.

Now, the usually vibrant, energetic redhead was unusually quiet, picking at a few grass leaves.

“Hey,” he said, gently placed his hand under her chin and pushed up he**r** head. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours?”

“Nothing.”

Paul raised an eyebrow.

“It’s… it’s just… I never … I never really thanked you for all you did for me. I mean, trusting me with the project, or caring for me when I was sick, helping me find a place to stay…I can never pay you back for all of it.”

“And I never expected you to.”

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “You are such a wonderful human being, Sylvia Tilly. Absolutely incandescent. I am very proud to call you my friend. That’s all I want from you, okay?”

“Goddammit, Stamets,” she said as she threw herself at him for a hug, causing Paul to lose balance and fall on his back, while Sylvia landed next to him on the grass. They looked at each, stunned, then burst out laughing until they were out of breath and in tears.

But then, Sylvia’s laughter turned into choked sobs. Paul turned onto his side and wiped the tears away with his thumb.

“Hey, kiddo. We said no tears today, remember? It’s a beautiful day, and,” he looked around quickly, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Siranna just brought out more of the chocolate pecan pie. How about you get us a slice? With a scoop of ice cream?”

“Okay,” came the quiet reply. Then Sylvia rose to her feet and walked over to the long table holding their plentiful buffet, consisting of all of their favorite foods. Just as Paul sat up, a few more drops of cold water hit him, as Keyla walked past him, with a cheeky smile, she winked at him with her left eye.

It was always a left-eyed wink for Paul and only for him. No surprise, really, after all he’d been the one who had created her bionic eye in the first place. It filled him with pride, and even more to see her finally being confident in her body.

Three years ago, her entire family perished when their apartment building went up in flames. Keyla had been one of the very few survivors but had sustained severe burns over the left side of her body and lost her left eye. When Katrina had heard of her fate, she decided to step in and help. Their company, Discovery Inc, was specialized in medical research, with Paul being responsible for bionic prosthetics. Within in a few months, he had refined an ocular implant that would help Keyla see again, even it was a different kind of sight then before. But unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about her scars.

Scars that she usually kept hidden but was now showing off by wearing something that barely qualified as a bikini.

An undignified yelp caught his attention.

“What did you do that for?”

Their resident IT genius Gen Rhys was rubbing his hand while looking totally shocked at Sylvia.

“This pie is spoken for. Get you own slice.”

“Please, children, calm down, there is enough pie for everyone,” Saru, Discovery’s CPO (which, according to Sylvia stood for Chief Parental Officer), intervened before the two young people could start a food fight which Sylvia would clearly win. Nobody got between her (or Paul himself) and a good pie.

He watched in amusement as Gen started throwing Marshmallows at the young woman who quickly retaliated. Their squeals and laughter warmed Paul’s heart. When Gen had started with Discovery, he had been a surly kid who had just aged out of the foster system and had nothing to his name but a ratty old laptop he’d won in a bet and a brilliant mind. For a while, he’d lived a life of cybercrime by taking money out of bank accounts where it wouldn’t be noticed or claiming orphaned accounts.

But he never kept more than he needed to pay his bills and food. The rest would find its way to different charities, most involving kids, and people in dire straits. And then, one day, he had tried to hack into Discovery’s state-of-the-art, high security systems. Successfully. After a few months, Gabriel had tracked Gen down, and instead of turning him in, he’d offer the kid a job with their IT development team (and doubled the donation to Make A Wish Foundation Gen had made out of Discovery’s funds). Since then he’d been irreplaceable on their team and helped in designing Keyla’s implant by writing the code for it.

More marshmallows were flying through the air now, and more combatants joined the fray. Joann Owosekun’s aim was unsurprisingly true. Her steady hands had allowed the young electrical engineer to work on the very intricate parts of Keyla’s implant. Her talent with anything electrical had changed many lives for good, but her own for worse. Joann had grown up in a Luddite community and soon developed an interest in technology, which led to a huge rift between her and her parents. Like Sylvia, she hadn’t spoken to them in a long time.

Then there was Roland Bryce. Actually, Paul didn’t know anything about him. Saru’s sister Siranna was the priest of his congregation. By the time she had made sure that all her parishioners had been taken care of for today, there had been no bus or train tickets left and every rental car had been gone. When Roland had heard of this, he immediately offered to take her to California. And as soon as he dropped her off, Gabriel and Katrina had invited him as well. Since he had no family left, he agreed.

Paul was extremely grateful for the younger man’s kind offer to Siranna. Otherwise, what happened yesterday would not have taken place. He held up his left hand, admiring the ring adorning his finger. It was very simple, just a silver band without any embellishments. He didn’t even know what material it was made from. All that he knew was that Keyla, who had been a goldsmith before the fire, had jumped at the chance to do something for him.

And of course, for the man he could now call his husband. Dr. Hugh Culber, her attending physician since she’d left the burn ward. Brilliant in his field, kind-hearted, snarky and – in Paul’s absolutely biased opinion – the sexiest man alive.

Though he wouldn’t have expected that when they first met…

_It was a big day for Discovery. Today they’d meet the person who they’d developed a new bionic eye implant for and her doctor. The team had spent the better part of a year on this project, and now it would finally come to fruition. But before they met, Paul needed some coffee._

_Unfortunately, some unreasonable person (Reno, Paul suspected) had cut off his supply by adding a fingerprint reader to every coffee machine in the office and had put a limit on each print. How was Paul supposed to function on just five cups of coffee per day? He barely made it through the morning on that meager amount._

_Lucky for him, nobody had thought of telling the café across the street to ban him from the life-giving beverage. It would cost him a small fortune, but a man had to do what a man had to do._

_While he waited for his second large cup, Paul took a final look at the data on his tablet. Everything had to be perfect. This was an extremely important project, not just for himself and the team, but also for this poor young woman, whom they’d give a new quality of life. _

_Just as he came to the part about the biological connections he’d grown from a DNA sample, a weird humming reached his ears. At first Paul tried to ignore it, but the sound was persistent. And out of tune. He couldn’t begin to identify what it was supposed to be. After what seemed like hours (but was in fact five minutes), he turned around to find the culprit. There was only one other person sitting outside with him. Solidly build, close cropped hair, probably one of the Coast Guards from Alameda. Normally, Paul would show at least a bit of respect, but the music enthusiast in him could no longer stand for this cruelty to melody. _

_“Hey!” he said, a bit more forcefully than necessary. “Either stop your slaughter of an innocent song or sit somewhere else!”_

_The hideous humming stopped immediately._

_“In the name of music, thank you!” Shaking his head, Paul turned back around: Uncle Everett would be proud. Just as he was about to add a little more sugar to his coffee, a shadow fell on his table and chair legs scraped across the floor. He looked up and found himself staring into a pair of gentle brown eyes, accompanied by a warm smile._

_“What the…”_

_“Well, you said to sit somewhere else. This is somewhere else,” the stranger said, revealing a string of perfect, pearly white teeth. “As for whether or not I keep the humming stifled, that depends on you. So… what are you going to do about it?”_

_Paul was stunned… and falling very hard for this annoying stranger._

“Penny for your thoughts?” a gentle voice said, causing Paul to smile.

“They are worth more than a penny.”

“Hm,” his husband said as he brought out a plate from behind his back. “How about a slice of pie? That be sufficient?”

A pale finger tapped a pale chin. “I’ll take it as a down payment. They are in fact priceless, you know.”

And they were. Those memories were more precious to him than diamonds. But were nothing compared to the man who helped create them. With a smile, Paul took the plate as Hugh sat down next to him.

“That is a big slice.”

“Well, I had to cut fast before the vultures descended. Plus, didn’t we agree yesterday to share everything?”

“Yes, but this is pecan chocolate pie. You’re lucky though,” Paul said as he cut off a piece with the fork and held it out to Hugh. “I’m in a benevolent mood.”

The look in Hugh’s eyes and the way his lips closed around the fork send a wave of warmth through Paul (and a little more blood than necessary at the moment into lower regions of his body).  
  
“Oh God, this is good,” Hugh said among some borderline obscene and indecent sounds that made Paul think of the previous delightful night and this morning.  
  
“I know. But there is something that tastes even better.”

“Oh? Pray tell, what is it?”

Paul leaned forward, nudging Hugh’s nose with his own.

“You,” he whispered huskily as he gently pressed his lips to Hugh’s. His husband responded eagerly, nudging Paul’s lips with his tongue.

“Theory proven,” the pale man said after a few moments.

“I don’t know. I think _you _taste better,” Hugh replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and cut another bite off with a second fork. “But we need more field study to prove this finally.”

“You had me at field study.”

They proceeded feeding each other pie between kisses, some sweet and tender, some more passionate, all full of love. But in the end, the time came for the evaluation of their little experiment.

“Hm,” Paul hummed. “I’d say the results are inconclusive.”

“I agree. There’s definitely further study required.”

“Well, I’ll get us some more material.”

Just as Paul got up onto his knees, Roland walked past them, a bottle of some undefined green liquid (which looked suspiciously like Reno’s moonshine) in hand.

“Too late for that,” he said over his shoulder before joining Keyla and Joann. “Gen and Sylvia just snatched up the rest of it to repeat your experiment.”

Paul and Hugh turned around. Lo and behold, there were the two culprits, swinging in a hammock while sharing the remnants of the pie between kisses and laughter. It was a sweet, heartwarming scene. Those two lost children from opposite walks of life had found each other and so much more.

They all had.

A warm, gentle hand settled on the back of Paul’s neck. He leaned into the touch, then lowered his head to Hugh’s shoulder.

“They should have met sooner,” he sighed. “_We _should have met sooner.”

“It’s not the amount of time you spend with someone,” Hugh said into his hair. “It’s the quality of the time that counts. And I can honestly say… the time I spent with you was the best of my life.”

Tears welled up in Paul’s eyes.

“Same here,” he whispered as he turned his head and pulled Hugh down for another kiss. When they finally came apart again, Hugh leaned his forehead against Paul’s and reached for his left hand, while Paul’s right cupped his cheek. He felt the gentle stroke of a calloused thumb and closed his eyes.

“Hey,” Hugh heard that soft, beloved voice. “We said no tears today.”

“I know but… my mom would do the thumb thing whenever I was sad as a kid.”

“Oh.”

As Paul wanted to withdraw his hand, Hugh held it in place.

“No… please. Keep doing this. It feels good. It feels right.”

“I know how much you miss her.”

Hugh’s parents and sister had been visiting family in Puerto Rico six month before when a gigantic tsunami had hit their small coastal town. The warning had come too late for them to get to safety. The entire town was destroyed with no survivors.

“She loved you, you know?” Hugh whispered. “She thought you were good for me.”

“And you were better for me.”

With a sad smile, Hugh reached up and ran his fingers through pale blond hair, his nail gently scraping the skin beneath. Which – as intended – made Paul literally purr. Hugh loved when he did that.

Someone clearing their throat pulled them out of their thoughts. As they looked up, Gabriel was standing in front of them.

“Hugh,” he said and took a deep breath. “Gen and Sylvia… want to leave. Now.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. Then, Hugh had to know.

“Are they sure?”

Gabriel nodded. “Sylvia wants to know, if Paul would sing for her before they… go.”

Swallowing hard, Paul fought down the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Of course,” he whispered brokenly and slowly rose from his position. Slowly he extended a hand to Hugh to help him up, and then the three men walked over to the hammock where the rest of their little group was assembled.

“Hey kids.” Hugh’s voice kept cracking as he spoke. “Do you really want this?”

“Yes,” Gen answered after exchanging glances with Sylvia. “We don’t want to see the… fireworks.”

“Okay. Just… let me get the bag.”

As he walked towards the house, Paul turned to Sylvia.

“Hey kiddo. I heard you want me to sing for you? Got anything special in mind?”

“Um… my favorite is Space Oddity,” she replied quietly.

Smiling, Paul cupped her cheek with one hand as he started to sing.

_“Ground Control to Major Tom  
Ground Control to Major Tom  
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on_

_Ground Control to Major Tom  
Commencing countdown, engines on  
Check ignition and may God's love be with you.”_

The last part almost didn’t leave his throat. The thought of what was to come was too hard to bear.

_“Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Lift off_

_This is Ground Control to Major Tom  
You've really made the grade  
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear  
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare.”_

Hugh knelt down next to the hammock, rummaging in his bag. Paul kept his focus on Sylvia, gently wiping away the tears rolling down her cheek. 

_“This is Major Tom to Ground Control  
I'm stepping through the door  
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way  
And the stars look very different today.”_

“Thank you,” he heard Gen say to Hugh, then the young man turned to bury his face in Sylvia’s neck as he took her hand.

_"For here  
Am I sitting in a tin can  
Far above the world  
Planet Earth is blue  
And there's nothing I can do.”_

Sylvia flinched slightly as the needle of Hugh’s syringe pierced her skin. Paul kept on singing as tears filled his eyes.

_“Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles  
I'm feeling very still  
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go  
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows.”_

Her eyes started to droop. Paul just nodded.

_"Ground Control to Major Tom  
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong  
Can you hear me, Major Tom?  
Can you hear me, Major Tom?  
Can you hear me, Major Tom?  
Can you...”_

Her eyes closed, and with one last sigh, Sylvia Tilly followed Gen Rhys into death.

_“Here am I floating round my tin can  
Far above the Moon  
Planet Earth is blue  
And there's nothing I can do.”_

Sobbing, Paul leaned forward to kiss her forehead. Siranna started saying a prayer for these two young people who had decided to go into the unknown in peace instead. Gabriel and Katrina held onto each other, openly crying. Hugh nodded to Joann and Roland who then covered the bodies with a soft blanket.

Then he took a deep breath and asked: “Is there anyone else who wants to … leave right now?”

“Me,” a soft voice said. Keyla looked at them, running her over the burn scars on her arm. “Once was more than enough. I… I was so scared back then, and knowing exactly what is going to happen… I don’t want my last moments to be like that again.”

“You don’t have to justify your decision, Keyla.” Joann wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then gently pressed her forehead against Keyla’s temple. “We fully understand.”

The redhead took a breath as she placed her hand over Joann’s, then she spoke again: “Before we do this, I just want to thank all of you. You’ve become my family when I lost my parents and brother. And you gave me hope when I had none left. It may have only been two and a half years, but for me it was a new life. All thanks to you.”

There wasn’t a dry eye left when she finished. All of them gathered around for a group hug, before breaking apart and each giving her a solo hug.

“Where do you want to do it?” Hugh asked as he went for his.

“Out here. I wanna see the sky for as long as possible.

He nodded with a sad smile.

“Pick your spot. Wherever you like.”

“I already picked one out.”

With that Keyla walked over to one of the Jeffrey pine trees surrounding the premises, leaned into the bark and breathed in deeply through the nose.

“They said their barks smell sweet. It’s true. Smells like pineapple.”

Carefully she plucked off a piece and held it to her nose as she sat down and leaned against the trunk.

Curious, Hugh took a sniff as well.

“More like vanilla to me.”

As he knelt down to prepare everything, Joann came over and sat down next to her friend. Keyla offered her the bark chip.

“What do you think? Vanilla or pineapple?”

“Hm.” Joann cupped her hands around the small piece of wood and inhaled deeply. “I’d actually say kinda both.”

She handed it back and held onto her friend’s hand. Keyla kept staring straight ahead but leaned her head against Joann’s. A smile appeared on her face when Hugh pushed the needle in. It was still there when her heartbeat slowed and finally stopped. Joann gently closed her eyes, while Siranna once more gave final rites and Roland covered Keyla with a soft blanket.

When Hugh rose, his eyes met Paul’s. A sad smile marred his husband’s face as he extended a hand. Hugh took it and allowed himself to be pulled into firm, yet gentle embrace. He breathed in Paul’s scent. The warm earthiness of his cologne combined with something that so uniquely… _Paul._ It smelled a thousand times sweeter than the tree bark.

He felt hands gently travelling down his arms, calloused palms meeting his own, slender fingers lacing with his. The simplest touch, yet it sent the most pleasant shivers down Hugh’s spine. It almost ended when Paul let go of one of his hands, but then he gently tugged on his other hand, leading him a few meters away from the empty shell that once was Keyla Detmer.

“She picked a wonderful spot,” Paul said quietly. “You can see almost the entire lake from here.”

“Yes,” Hugh replied. “It’s beautiful. Hard to believe that it’ll all be gone by tomorrow.”

Without saying another word, Paul leaned into him, wrapping his arms around Hugh’s waist, as Hugh kissed his temple.

The lake, the forests, the mountain wouldn’t be all that would be gone by the end of the day. A huge part of the United States would vanish in a firestorm, as would large parts of Africa and Europe. Plenty of Asia and Russia would be washed away in gigantic tsunamis. Australia and South America would sustain minor damage compared to all others but would succumb to the new ice age that would come due to millions of tons of radioactive dust blocking the sun.

And all because of a small error in calculation.

About a year ago, ESA and JAXA sounded the alarm. No one knew how or why it had been missed, but suddenly an asteroid classified as a global killer had popped up on the screens. And it was on a collision course with Earth, threatening to rip the planet apart. Leading astrophysicists had tried to develop ways to prevent it, but in the end, time only allowed one solution.

A coordinated nuclear strike by the US, Russia and China to push it off course.

It had been a desperate effort. One that was destined to fail.

Instead of pushing the asteroid out of the way, the detonations ripped it apart into seven big and thousands of small pieces. The latter ones had been peppering Earth for months, one of them causing the tsunami that killed Hugh’s family. Out of the big ones, two would miss Earth.

The other five wouldn’t. And while Earth as a planet would survive, nothing on its surface would. Only a few deep-sea creatures would stand a small chance.

The news of their impending annihilation threw mankind into chaos at first. Desperate people did desperate things. There were riots. The number of murder-suicides skyrocketed, as it would on this very day without a doubt.

But after a while, people realized how precious their remaining time was. Some quit their jobs to travel or pursue hobbies they never had the time for before. Resources were pooled to help people fulfill their dreams. For the short time it had left, mankind lived up to its true potential.

If only it had happened sooner and without a looming extinction level event.

“Excuse us, gentlemen,” Katrina’s voice pulled them back as she and Gabriel approached them. “We just wanted to say goodbye.” 

“Yeah, we, uh, are going back into the house for…” Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. Paul couldn’t help smirking and asking: “A stability test?”

_Stability test _had become a code at Discovery Inc to let people know to stay away from either Gabriel’s or Katrina’s office after they used “a talk about stability tests” for a little afternoon delight. Unfortunately, it did not turn out as desired when Gabriel’s office chair suddenly collapsed under the weight of two people. The loud crash and shocked yelp had alerted his assistant Ellen who immediately came in to see what happened.

And seeing she did.

The next day, Gabriel got a new chair and Ellen an expensive gift basket and a nice bonus with her next paycheck.

“Yes,” Katrina replied as she stepped closer to the other couple. “We want to go out with a bang… of our bed against the wall.”

Her eyes were glistening as she gently took the men’s free hands.”

“It was such a pleasure knowing you both. And an honor to host your wedding.”

Sniffing, Hugh stepped forward to hug Katrina. “The pleasure and honor were ours. Thank you for inviting us and giving us a wonderful time. And…”

He let go of her to take a deep breath. There was one more thing he wanted to, had to say.

“Thank you for making me part of your family when I lost mine.”

Tears now freely running down her face, Katrina placed her hands on Hugh’s cheeks and gently pulled his head down to kiss his forehead.

Gabriel swallowed hard as he faced Paul. “Listen, I … I wanna say I’m sorry for always pushing you so hard. I…”

“No need to apologize, Gabriel. It’s in the past.”

“No, please. I need you to know. I pushed you because I saw how brilliant you are. You have so much potential. If we … had more time, you’d probably be the one to find a cure for ... f-for…”

Suddenly, the usually so controlled, sometimes seemingly very cold CEO burst into tears, sobs wracking his tall frame.

With a sad smile, Paul stepped forwards to pull Gabriel into a tight embrace and let his sob into his shoulder. It was the first time in the five years he’d know Gabriel that he ever saw him openly display this much emotion.

Even though he rarely showed it, Paul knew his boss had a heart the size of the Grand Canyon. He had put his entire sizeable fortune into Discovery Inc with the goal of making the world a better place and help.

People like his father, who died suddenly from a previously undiscovered heart defect.

People like his mother who wasted away from Alzheimer’s disease.

People like Gabriel himself and Katrina who lost four children in miscarriages.

People like Madeleine, their only child to be born on term and alive, who never woke up from her afternoon nap at 8 months of age.

“We... we could have done so much more. Helped so many more people,” Gabriel whispered while tears streamed down his face.

“Look…” Paul said and gently squeezed Gabriel’s shoulders. “We may not have been able to do all we wanted to or could have done. But we made a difference for a lot of people, like Keyla. We gave them hope, a new quality of life. That’s what matters. Maybe we weren’t meant for more than that.”

“Damn you and your fucking brilliant brain,” Gabriel snorted and wiped his tears away. “Why do you always have to make sense like that?”

“Nature’s blessing, I guess.”

“Should have blessed you with some humility as well.”

“We can’t have everything.”

“No. I think we can’t.”

Just for a small moment, the two men looked at each other. Paul extended a hand. Gabriel took it and pulled the scientist into a bear hug.

“Goodbye, Paul.”

“Goodbye, Gabriel.”

They let go of each other, and Gabriel tuned to his wife. As they walked back to the house, his hand slipped into her backpocket, and her hand into his.

Hugh wrapped an arm around Paul’s waist.

“Do you, um… want to… follow their lead?” the pale man asked, leaning into his husband’s side. He could feel the hard, taut muscle beneath the fabric of the shirt, remembered the sensation of his hand running over warm skin. But it didn’t have the same effect it usually did. There was no lust, no arousal. Just a sensation of butterflies in his stomach, a memory of love and tenderness.

The same love and tenderness he now saw in Hugh’s eyes.

“No,” the beloved voice spoke. “I just want to be with you like we are now. Besides, we had plenty of sex last night and this morning. Certain parts of my body can’t take anymore right now.”

Paul couldn’t help but laughed, and Hugh joined in.

“My poor love. How can I make up for it?”

Hugh pretended to think about it.

“You could sing for me.”

“Under one condition. Dance with me. For science.”

Smiling, Hugh pulled him closer, now wrapping both arms around Paul as he closed his around Hugh’s neck and started to sing.

“_Whenever I'm alone with you  
You make me feel like I am home again  
Whenever I’m alone with you  
You make me feel like I am whole again  
Whenever I’m alone with you  
You make me feel like I am young again  
Whenever I’m alone with you  
You make me feel like I am fun again.”_

Hugh’s smile grew even wider as they swayed. He loved Paul’s voice, whether he snarked at someone or whispered terms of endearment in his ear. But he loved it even more when Paul sang, when Paul sang just for him.

Hell, he loved it when Paul did things just for him.

_“However far away I will always love you  
However Long I stay I will always love you  
Whatever words I say I will always love you  
I will always Love you.”  
_

His husband’s melodious voice floated through the air, drowning out the birds, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the muted voices of the others and the noises coming from the house.

_“Whenever I’m alone with you  
You make me feel like I am free again  
Whenever I’m alone with you  
You make me feel like I am clean again”  
_

The world around became a blur, until there was nothing and nobody left but them. An entire world, an entire universe was reduced to just two people dancing, two people deeply in love.

_“However far away I will always love you  
However Long I stay I will always love you  
Whatever Words I say I will always love you  
I will always love you.”_

As Paul’s voice trailed off, Hugh reached up and cupped Paul’s cheek with his hand, his thumb gently stroking the cheekbone. Paul just smiled and leaned into the touch, before covering Hugh’s hand with his own.

“Do you think… there’s some kind of afterlife?” Hugh asked quietly. His voice was slightly trembling, yet there was a tiny flicker of hope in it.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Paul answered. “But if there is, I promise you, we’ll be together.”

With a smile, Hugh leaned closer, gently bringing his lips down on Paul’s. “I’ll find you.”

“You always do.”

Hand in hand, they walked back to the blanket and laid down facing each other. When a random strand of hair fell onto Paul’s forehead, Hugh gently brushed it back, while Paul’s fingers drew lazy patterns on Hugh’s back. They just laid like this for a while, not speaking, not thinking of anything but each other.

A last moment of peace…

…which was interrupted by the distant wail of sirens, followed by a loud boom which was heard around the world.

Like in Indonesia, where Philippa Georgiou stood on the shores of a remote beach. The moment the asteroid entered the atmosphere, she dropped her kimono to the sand and walked into to water bare-naked, fully intending to leave this life as she had entered it. She swam out as far as she could, turned on her back and looked up at the sky.

Like in San Francisco, where Jett Reno sat on her wife’s grave, knocking back the last of her whisky. She tossed the glass aside before stretching out on the grass.

“This is it,” she said, tracing Soyusa’s name on the cold headstone, with a wide smile on her face. “See you soon, honey.”

Like in the Mojave desert, where Chris and Vina Pine had taken their horses Tango and Mary Lou for a finale ride the previous afternoon. They had enjoyed their last sunset, a night sky filled with stars and a last sunrise, before Vina, a veterinarian, opened the small box she’d brought with her. Not wanting Tango and Mary Lou to spend their moments in terror, she gave each horse a piece of sugar before putting them to sleep. Then, she and Chris laid down between their faithful animals, before they took a tiny pill that would send them off peacefully. They died in the early hours of July 4, their arms wrapped around each other. They never knew what happened later.

Neither did a family of four and their two guests in a small canadian town called Vulcan. At around 2 AM, a man named Sarek Grayson turned off all alarms in the house, before opening the gas lines. Then he went back upstairs, to check one last time on his children Spock and Michael and collect the empty glasses from their rooms. He put them on his nightstand and slid into bed next to his wife Amanda. Then he drank the last of the anesthetic-laced nightcap he had served his family. He kissed Amanda’s forehead one last time before he fell asleep.

In their house at Lake Tahoe, Katrina and Gabriel had just rode out the last waves of the most intense orgasms they’d ever had, when they heard it. Instinctively, Gabriel wrapped his arms around her.

“I wish I could protect you,” he whispered.

“You did in so many ways,” she replied. “I always felt safe in your arms. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

_Mommy and Daddy are coming, Maddy._

Deep in the back of his mind, Gabriel could hear his daughter’s sweet giggle, and with that sound and the love shining in Katrina’s eyes, he suddenly felt at peace.

Outside, Joann hadn’t left Keyla’s side. In a split decision, she hid her head under the blanket covering her friend.

Saru, Siranna and Roland stood together in an embrace. Roland’s eyes were closed, his lips moving silently as Siranna led him in prayer. Saru simply kissed his sister’s temple and muttered words of love into her hair.

Paul and Hugh scooted even closer to each other, holding on for dear life. Tears streamed down their cheeks as Hugh said: “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Paul replied and leaned forward for a final kiss. His entire body was vibrating and when their lips touched, he – as usual – felt like his whole world was set on fire.


	2. Epilogue

It took years for the dust to settle. When it did, there was no living creature around to see it. Those who hadn’t perished in the firestorms, died quickly from impact-related injuries, drowned in floods or froze or starved to death in the aftermath.

But deep in the oceans, a few deep-sea creatures survived. Over the millennia that followed, they slowly evolved and rose further up with each generation until one of them took their first step on dry land.

Life was returning to Earth. And a million years after the impact, men walked the Earth once more. Another few thousand years passed by; mankind evolved to something better than it had been before.

And then, one warm sunny day, a young Doctor of Medicine walked into a café to read the latest medical journal in peace, when he heard somebody humming – or better butchering – a song by a well-known band named after some insects.

“Hey,” he said. “Stifle it or sit somewhere else.”

Immediately, the humming stopped, and the doctor heard the scraping of a chair. Relieved, he turned back to his journal, when suddenly the chair across from him was pulled out and a very pale man sat down on it, setting his coffee cup on the table. Blue eyes sparkling mischievously looked straight at him.

“Well, you said to sit somewhere else. This is somewhere else. As for whether or not I keep the humming stifled, that depends on you. So… what are you going to do about it?”

And so, history began to repeat itself.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains death. Lots of it, including the death of a child and suicides.


End file.
